Home Mendenhall, London: Why can’t we be friends?
Sports News

Mendenhall, London: Why can’t we be friends?

Contributors

Bronco MendenhallIt doesn’t sound like UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall and his predecessor, Mike London, are the kind to exchange Christmas cards.

Mendenhall was asked at his Monday weekly presser about his contacts with London, now the head coach at William & Mary, Virginia’s Week 2 opponent.

Mendenhall said he didn’t speak with London after London was let go by UVA in 2015, or before Mendenhall came to UVA shortly thereafter.

There was an awards banquet in the offseason this year after London was named coach at William & Mary where the two were able to speak.

Mendenhall said the two did communicate when London was in the process of hiring former UVA quarterback Matt Johns, who was a defensive grad assistant at UVA in 2018.

“Mike was just really professional and first class in his communication with me and where Matt stood and what his process was going to be,” Mendenhall said.

Johns is the inside wide receivers/tight ends coach on London’s staff at W&M.

The two did coach against each other when London was at UVA and Mendenhall was at BYU.

London’s 2013 UVA team, on its way to a 2-10 season, upset BYU on a stormy night in Charlottesville, 16-13.

BYU evened the ledger a year later in Provo with a 41-33 win.

Did the two get to talk any at that time?

“Those conversations were just basically before the kickoff, on the field,” Mendenhall said, adding: “That’s kind of the extent of what our relationship has been.”

Story by Chris Graham

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.